Our Turf Is in the City

"Pah! Poor bastards."

Zhong Lin spat at the three corpses on the ground. He had only found two taels of silver on them, nothing else at all. The most valuable thing was probably the Ghost Head Saber in the triangular-eyed man's hand. If he sold it, it should fetch around five taels of silver.

He gave it a couple of swings. It felt quite handy.

I was just thinking of having a saber forged at the blacksmith's. This saves me the trouble.

Zhong Lin was immensely pleased. Weapons were never cheap, and this Ghost Head Saber had saved him several taels of silver.

He ignored the three corpses on the ground. Before long, the beasts of the mountain forest would devour them clean, returning them to nature. The authorities would not bother with them either.

Using the cover of night, Zhong Lin swiftly returned to the city. He skillfully made a circuit through the streets to make sure no tail was following him, then finally returned to Sweet Water Alley through a small lane.

Without knocking, he took a running start and leaped straight over the wall.

"Second Brother."

The moment Zhong Lin pushed open the door, Little Shi sat up from the bed. In the pitch-black room, a pair of eyes gleamed with Spiritual Light.

Zhong Lin's movements paused.

"Still not asleep?"

"I was waiting for Second Brother to come back. I can't sleep if you don't come back."

Zhong Lin stepped forward and rubbed Little Shi's head, saying softly, "Sleep."

"Mm."

Zhong Lin did not continue studying the pills. He took off his clothes and lay down to rest as well.

He emptied his mind, recalling the scene of his fight with the triangular-eyed man in the woods and pondering how he could exert force more easily to kill him.

The yamen.

Strong Squad quarters.

With a flick of his right hand, Zhong Lin sent a blackish-red jar arcing through the air. A nervous Old Zhou caught it firmly.

"Careful! What a waste it'd be if it shattered."

Old Zhou rebuked Zhong Lin in displeasure, but his hands swiftly pulled out the stopper. Then he took a deep sniff.

"Authentic Qian Family Pear Blossom White from the west side of the city. Their liquor is still the most mellow and fragrant."

Old Zhou looked intoxicated, as though he wished he could take a huge gulp right then and there.

Unfortunately, the yamen had rules. He could only forcibly suppress the liquor bug in his belly and wait until he got off duty to go home and drink to his heart's content.

He replaced the stopper and carefully hid the wine in the cabinet. Only then did he have time to speak with Zhong Lin.

"You're positively glowing. I suppose you gained something last night," Old Zhou said with a smile.

"Thanks to your good fortune, I did find what I wanted to buy. It was just too expensive."

Thinking of the pill's price, Zhong Lin's mouth twitched, his heart aching for the money.

Old Zhou laughed as well. He had wanted to tease Zhong Lin a little, but when his gaze swept over the cabinet where he had hidden the wine, his own heart twitched. He sighed, "Yeah. Good things are expensive."

Pear Blossom White was not some famous wine, yet even with his salary, he could only drink it once every ten days or half a month.

"By the way, Old Zhou, I saw child traffickers in the Black Market, along with several children. Doesn't the authorities do anything about it?"

Zhong Lin suddenly recalled the children in the Black Market, who had obviously been drugged and were clearly victims of abduction and trafficking.

Old Zhou cast Zhong Lin a glance and asked in return, "Do something? How? You going to do it, or me? And do you really think the Black Market formed on its own?"

Zhong Lin was momentarily stunned. The bearded man collecting money at the Black Market entrance suddenly came to mind. That alone showed that someone was managing the Black Market behind the scenes.

"Who?"

"Don't know."

Then why the hell did you bring it up?

"Though I don't know who stands behind the Black Market, they are definitely someone who can reach the sky and cover the earth throughout all of Black Mountain County. It's probably one of those few. Even the County Magistrate is unwilling to provoke them. If you see something in the Black Market, then you've seen it. Don't meddle too much. But if you run into them in the city again, deal with them however you should. Remember, our turf is in the city."

Old Zhou warned him with a solemn expression, afraid Zhong Lin might get hot-blooded in his youth.

"Understood."

Having lived two lives, Zhong Lin knew that some things could be done, while others could not yet be done.

After chatting with Old Zhou for a while longer, Zhong Lin got up and left. He made a detour to the Warm Fragrance Brothel, painted a picture, earned five taels of silver, and returned home feeling thoroughly satisfied.

Little Shi had been sent to study under Teacher Liu. There was no one at home, making it the perfect time to examine the pills he had bought the previous night.

He carefully tapped a pill out of the porcelain bottle. This so-called Blood Replenishment Pill was the size of a pearl, dark red all over, with a faint Medicinal Fragrance.

I should find time to learn some medicine and see whether I can reproduce these. This is only a Blood Replenishment Pill for Tendons Transformation. Bone Forging Pills are even more expensive.

For others, studying medicine was naturally an arduous undertaking, perhaps requiring more than half a lifetime. But for Zhong Lin, who possessed a cheat, as long as he could enter the skill onto his panel, it would take no more than a single breath.

He also wanted to see whether he could crack the composition of these pills and reproduce them. A single Blood Replenishment Pill cost ten taels of silver. Ten pills had nearly bankrupted him. He would be even less able to afford Bone Forging Pills later.

He swallowed a pill. In less than three breaths, Zhong Lin felt as if a volcano had erupted in his stomach, its scorching medicinal power spreading through his body like lava.

"What potent medicinal power. It's at least ten times stronger than Eight Treasures Blood Nourishing Soup. A pill truly lives up to its name."

Zhong Lin did not dare delay. Taking a step forward, he quickly began practicing the Iron Mountain Skill in the courtyard.

Azure Dragon Cave Heaven.

Crane Claw Imprints Sand.

Red Cliff Copper Wall.

Ten Mile Thunderclap.

The Iron Mountain Skill emphasized broad, sweeping movements and overwhelming force. Every punch and kick brimmed with power, yet still retained a sense of fluid grace.

Zhong Lin shifted and moved across the open ground. As his fists and feet stretched out, the Blood Replenishment Pill's medicinal power circulated swiftly through his body before seeping into his tendons, bones, flesh, and skin.

With the support of the max-level Iron Mountain Skill, Zhong Lin could make full use of every shred of medicinal power without wasting even the slightest bit.

When ordinary people practiced martial arts, who among them was not feeling their way across the river by touching the stones? Of ten parts of medicinal power, they could use at most four or five; the better ones might manage six or seven.

But with the system's support, Zhong Lin's understanding of the Iron Mountain Skill had long reached the level of its creator. Whether in tempering his body or absorbing medicinal power, he was beyond comparison with anyone else.

It was like a max-level master replaying the beginner's village.

Suddenly, Zhong Lin's fist techniques changed sharply, and a faint sense of a tiger's roar emerged.

Fierce Tiger Escapes Confinement.

Starving Tiger Pounces on Rabbit.

Black Tiger Plucks Heart.

With every punch and kick, it was as though a fierce tiger truly accompanied him. The wind from his punches sounded even more like the roar of a tiger.

The birds that had been perched in the jujube tree had long since fled in panic beneath Zhong Lin's punch wind.

Only after a full half hour did Zhong Lin stop. The Blood Replenishment Pill's medicinal power had also been completely absorbed, without a single shred wasted.

"Pills really are good things. If I had pills assisting me every day, I could complete Tendons Transformation cultivation in a month at most and officially enter the Eighth Rank Tendons Transformation Realm." Zhong Lin was overjoyed.